Increased ice time pays off for DeSimone

Albany Devils forward excels since locked-out players rejoined NHL

Published 11:41 pm, Thursday, March 7, 2013

Photo: Lori Van Buren

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Phil DeSimone of the Albany Devils, right, battles for the puck with Danick Gauthier of Syracuse during a hockey game at the Times Union Center on Monday Feb. 18, 2013 in Albany, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union) less

Phil DeSimone of the Albany Devils, right, battles for the puck with Danick Gauthier of Syracuse during a hockey game at the Times Union Center on Monday Feb. 18, 2013 in Albany, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times ... more

Photo: Lori Van Buren

Increased ice time pays off for DeSimone

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LANSINBURGH — Phil DeSimone, it turns out, has a lot of hockey skill. It just took half a season for Albany Devils fans to discover that.

DeSimone, signed by Albany as a free agent in the off-season, was one of several players squeezed out by the NHL lockout. After playing all 76 games last season for the Hamilton Bulldogs, he was a healthy scratch in 26 of the Devils' first 33 games.

"I haven't been a healthy scratch since my first year in Sioux City in the USHL," said DeSimone, 25, referring to the 2004-05 season.

The lockout ended in January, sending a handful of NHL-caliber players back to New Jersey and affording DeSimone a regular lineup spot. He has capitalized.

DeSimone has three multiple-point games in the past six. On the season he has eight goals and six assists in just 25 games, a points-per-game percentage (.056) that ranks fifth on the team among those on the current roster.

"I don't think anyone would admit to that being easy," he said of sitting out those early-season games, "but at the same time, it was a situation out of anyone's control. You can't let that kind of stuff get to you. You have to try to be as positive as you can, come to the rink every day and try and get in the lineup."

More Information

Devils schedule

All games at Times Union Center

Friday: Bridgeport, 7 p.m.

Saturday: Springfield, 5 p.m.

Sunday: Adirondack, 3 p.m.

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A natural center, DeSimone has played all three forward positions for the Devils, and done it effectively.

Coach Rick Kowalsky recently has used DeSimone, a left-hand shot, on the right wing of his top line, with left wing Joe Whitney and center Jacob Josefson.

"What I've really liked about him is his play away from the puck," Kowalsky said. "I've really been harping on habit and details and playing the system. It was all an adjustment for him. I saw him in development camp this summer. He certainly had an unusual skill level."

DeSimone, a native of the Buffalo suburb of East Amherst, was a point-per-game scorer his final two seasons in Sioux City. He played four years at New Hampshire, imroving his scoring output each season, and had 33 points as a rookie in Hamilton.

"I played wing a little bit last year," he said. "Rick wanted me to work on some things at that position, and I feel like that we both can agree that I have, but at the same time we've had a lot of injuries and lineup changes — guys up, guys down — so I feel like he's comfortable putting me at wing or center."